Myers, Muguette

Muguette Myers was born in 1931 in Paris.  Her parents had emigrated to France from Poland, hoping to leave behind the anti-Semitism of eastern Europe.  Muguette’s father died when she was only three, so it became her mother’s job to support the family.  Muguette had to go to school with her brother despite her young age.  When the war broke out in 1939, Muguette was evacuated with her classmates. Her mother and brother fled to Champlost, a small village about 160 kilometers from Paris, and Muguette was able to join them there.  The family returned to Paris in 1941 and managed to evade capture on numerous occasions, as the infamous round-ups of French Jews began.  Muguette missed the July 1942 the Vel’ d’Hiv Roundup of Parisian Jews by fleeing to Normandy the day before, later reuniting with her family in Champlost.  Muguette was given a new Catholic name, Marie, and she attended mass every Sunday.  The family was protected by the locals and stayed in the village until liberation. After the war they returned to Paris, and Muguette enrolled in business school. In 1947, the family  made the decision to emigrate to Canada, where they had family, and they settled in Montreal.  Muguette returned to her schooling and then found work in a factory,  where she met her future husband. They married in 1951 and had two children.  Muguette has since become involved in Shoah education, and it was through the efforts of the Montreal Holocaust Musem that we were able to zoom with her during the pandemic spring of 2021.